5G news: Trump official says Biden refused to ‘side with science,’ prompting airline chaos
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Donald Trump appointed FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr issued a statement Wednesday blaming the Biden administration for the chaotic rollout of Verizon and AT&T’s 5G wireless, which caused several airlines to cancel or delay flights in and into the US over fears that the technology would disrupt aircraft instruments.
“This is a clear failure of leadership. At any point in time, the White House could have stood up and sided with the science. They didn’t,” Mr Carr said.
Major international airlines have begun cancelling flights to the United States after the Federal Aviation Administration raised concerns about 5G wireless towers near airports.
Emirates, Air India, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways announced it would suspend flights after the Airlines for America trade group pressured the Biden administration over “catastrophic disruption” due to the scheduled 19 January rollout.
Emirates suspended flights into nine airports, including Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas Fort Worth, George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Miami, Newark, Orlando, San Francisco and Seattle. It said it would continue flying into New York’s John F. Kennedy airport, the Los Angeles airport and Washington Dulles. Sir Tim Clark, the airline’s president, called the US government and the wireless companies “delinquent” and “irresponsible” for creating the conditions that allowed for the chaos to occur.
Wireless telecom giants AT&T and Verizon announced the activation of 5G towers near some US airports would be delayed for two weeks to resolve the differences.
The high-speed 5G internet uses so-called C-band frequencies close to those used by aircraft to measure their altitude, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warning potential interference could affect sensitive aeroplane instruments such as altimeters and significantly hamper low-visibility operations.
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US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg got a transportation crisis for his 40th birthday
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg celebrated his 40th birthday on Wednesday.
Unfortunately for him, it also intersected with a chaotic day of transportation woes as numerous airlines cancelled and delayed flights in and into the US over Verizon and AT&T’s 5G rollout.
Mr Buttigieg addressed the issues to Action 4 News in Pittsburgh ahead of the rollout Wednesday.
“The focus right now is to minimize any delays or disruptions that are associated with those restrictions to keep airplanes safe. And at the same time, support the deployment of this technology. And what that means in the short term is asking the wireless carriers to hold off on activating that piece of their network that involves antennas that are very close to runways, so that we can make sure that all the safety issues are squared away,” Mr Buttigieg said.
Donald Trump appointed FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr issued a statement Wednesday blaming the Biden administration for the chaotic rollout of Verizon and AT&T's 5G wireless, which caused several airlines to cancel or delay flights in and into the US over fears that the technology would disrupt aircraft instruments.
"Nearly two years ago, the FCC - the expert agency charged by Congress with regulating wireless carries' transmissions - authorised C-Band operations pursuant to a detailed, 258-page regulatory decision," he wrote. "It was a decision based on sound engineering, good process, and real-world experience, including the fact that C-Band operations are live in nearly 40 countries today without any negative impacts on aviation."
He went on to say that the Biden administration "chose to upend that settled decision and replace it with a chaotic and haphazard process."
"This is a clear failure of leadership. At any point in time, the White House could have stood up and sided with the science. They didn't," Mr Carr wrote.
Airlines warned for weeks that 5G rollout could cause flight disruptions
The flight disruptions caused by Verizon and AT&T’s 5G rollout Wednesday were predicted weeks ago by the FAA and the airline industry.
The FAA noted as early as 23 December that the 5G rollout in the US could impact aircraft instruments.
The Biden administration has faced criticism from the FCC, airlines and wireless carriers for the temporary chaos caused by the rollout.
Airline trade boss says collaboration needed between airlines, wireless carriers to solve 5G problem
Nick Calio, the CEO of Airlines.org, a trade organisation representing major US airlines, told CNN that in order to move past the 5G issue that caused numerous airlines to cancel flights Wednesday, the companies involved would need to reach a solution together.
“We’ve got to solve the problem. That’s taking collaboration between Verizon and AT&T, the airlines, and manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus,” he said.
Japanese Airlines say they will resume flights to the US tomorrow
Two Japanese airlines said they would resume flights to the US tomorrow after Verizon and AT&T’s 5G rollout caused several airlines to cancel flights on Wednesday.
Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways both released statements on Wednesday saying they planned to resume flights into the US on Thursday.
Earlier in the day both airlines had cancelled flights over fear that 5G towers near major US airports could disrupt the instruments on certain aircraft.
Which airports were affected by Wednesday’s 5G chaos?
The Independent’s David Taintor compiled a list of hub airports that were affected by the 5G rollout on Wednesday.
Those airports include Boston Logan International, Chicago’s O’Hare, and the Dallas Fort Worth International airport.
For a full list of US hub airports currently experiencing delays caused by the rollout, as well as a look into which international carriers are cancelling flights, check out the story here.
Despite 5G chaos, flight cancellations were not significantly higher than any other day
Despite the widespread critcism from the airline industry toward the US’s planned 5G rollout on Wednesday, fewer than 300 flights appear to have been cancelled as a result. As President Joe Biden noted in a statement earlier today, 90 per cent of cell towers scheduled to utilise 5G were activated today. The only towers that were not activated were those within 50 miles of an airport.
FlightAware is a company that tracks flight delays and cancellations. As of Wednesday evening, 307 flights have been cancelled, and 5,038 were delayed.
Based on those numbers it is difficult to tell exactly how many were caused by the 5G rollout, but cancellation and delay data from other days suggests these numbers are not unusual.
Yesterday, 281 flights were cancelled, and 6,351 were delayed.
ICYMI: Trump appointed FCC commissioner blames 5G rollout woes on Biden administration
Donald Trump appointed FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr issued a statement Wednesday blaming the Biden administration for the chaotic rollout of Verizon and AT&T’s 5G wireless, which caused several airlines to cancel or delay flights in and into the US over fears that the technology would disrupt aircraft instruments.
“Nearly two years ago, the FCC - the expert agency charged by Congress with regulating wireless carries’ transmissions - authorised C-Band operations pursuant to a detailed, 258-page regulatory decision,” he wrote. “It was a decision based on sound engineering, good process, and real-world experience, including the fact that C-Band operations are live in nearly 40 countries today without any negative impacts on aviation.”
He went on to say that the Biden administration “chose to upend that settled decision and replace it with a chaotic and haphazard process.”
“This is a clear failure of leadership. At any point in time, the White House could have stood up and sided with the science. They didn’t,” Mr Carr wrote.
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